Multi‐Decadal Remote‐Sensing Analysis of Irrigated Areas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley,New Mexico

A time series of estimates of irrigated area was developed for the Lower Rio Grande valley (LRG) in New Mexico from the 1970s to present day. The objective of the project was to develop an independent, accurate, and scientifically justifiable evaluation of irrigated area in the region for the period spanning from the mid‐1970s to the present. These area estimates were used in support of groundwater modeling of the LRG region, as well as for other analyses. This study used a remote‐sensing‐based methodology to evaluate overall irrigated area within the LRG. We applied a methodology that involved the normalization of vegetation indices derived from satellite imagery to get a more accurate estimation of irrigated area across multiple time periods and multiple Landsat platforms. The normalization allows more accurate evaluation of vegetation index data that span several decades. An accuracy assessment of the methodology and results from this study was performed using field‐collected crop data from the 2008 growing season. The comparisons with field data indicate that the accuracy of the remote‐sensing‐based estimates of historical irrigated area is very good, with rates of false positives (areas identified as irrigated that are not truly irrigated) of only about 4%, and rates of false negatives (areas identified as not irrigated that are truly irrigated) in the range of 0.6‐2.0%.     

深度脱水污泥掺混土壤改性及资源化技术研究

为实现深度脱水污泥的改性和资源化利用,以上海某城市污水处理厂的两种不同含水率的深度脱水污泥A和B为例,通过向污泥中掺混土壤,研究土壤对污泥含水率、有机质、抗压强度、恶臭和植物毒性等的影响,探索其用作填埋场封场覆盖绿化用土的可行性.结果表明,掺混土壤可明显降低污泥含水率、有机质和臭气强度,并显著提高其抗压强度和种子发芽率,且相关性分析表明,土壤对污泥的有机质、臭气强度和浸出液种子发芽率的改善效果较强;当土壤添加量分别为60％和30％时,污泥A和B的抗压强度可分别由32.99kPa和196.67kPa的初始值增加至117.6kPa和227.5kPa,臭气强度可由4.5级和4级下降至2级和1.5级,浸出液白菜种子发芽率可由50％和56.7％增加至90％和80％.改性后的污泥A和B均能满足填埋场封场覆盖绿化用土的要求,实现其资源化利用.     

Past and future perspectives upon landscape instability in Cumbria, northwest England

Geomorphic and lacustrine evidence is used to identify phases of landscape instability in Cumbria, northwest England, British Isles. The temporal and spatial pattern of erosion is used alongside palaeovegetation data from across the region to elucidate the causes of landscape instability in the late Holocene. The lines of evidence include changes in sediment accumulation rate and provenance within the region’s lakes; the hillslope alluvial fan and gully incision record; the lowland fluvial geomorphic record; and pollen analytical data for the late Holocene vegetation history. The sediment supply driven hillslope and lacustrine records suggest that only the 1,200–800 BP and post 600–500 BP erosion episodes were both catchment-wide and directly affected upland hillslopes, with the earlier phases after 5,200 and 3,000–1,600 BP on a lower scale and more restricted spatially. These episodes coincide with major expansions or changes in anthropogenic activity during Neolithic, Iron Age and Romano-British, Norse and late Medieval times. The projected future trajectories of changes in both climate (UKCIP scenarios) and landuse (CAP reform and ESA status) appear unlikely to increase landscape instability, although a shift to greater incidence of storms and high magnitude flood events clearly could. The past shows that the largest increases in erosion and sediment movement occur in the wake of major intensifications in land pressure that primarily affect previously wooded or protected hillslopes, circumstances that land management strategists should mitigate against.     

IMPERVIOUSNESS: A PERFORMANCE MEASURE OF A DELAWARE WATER RESOURCE PROTECTION AREA ORDINANCE1

ABSTRACT: The New Castle County Resource Protection Area Technical Advisory Committee (RPATAC) requested that the University of Delaware utilize impervious cover estimates to evaluate the performance of the Water Resource Protection Area (WRPA) ordinance. This 1991 ordinance was the first in Delaware to protect the quantity and quality of drinking water supplies by limiting new development in WRPAs ‐ such as areas of ground water recharge, wellhead protection, drainage above reservoirs (reservoir watersheds), and limestone aquifers ‐ to a maximum 20 percent impervious cover. The research used geographic information system (GIS) techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of the ordinance in attaining its objective. The analysis indicated that 138 new developments were proposed in WRPAs since the ordinance was approved in 1991. The composite impervious cover of the 231 square kilometers of WRPAs in New Castle County is 15 percent, less than the 20 percent code requirement, ranging from 7 percent in recharge areas to 41 percent in several wellhead protection areas. To further protect drinking water supplies, the study results indicate, New Castle County should discourage code variances for applications in the more developed WRPAs, those where impervious cover already exceeds 20 percent, and should acquire parks and open space to protect the healthier WRPAs where impervious cover is currently less than 20 percent.     

Effects of Alternative Cotton Agriculture on Avian and Arthropod Populations

Abstract:  Among the major agricultural crops in the southeastern United States, cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) generally provides the least suitable habitat for most early successional songbirds. Newer cropping approaches, such as use of conservation tillage and stripcover cropping, offer hope for improving the ecological value of cotton fields. We examined the effects of clover stripcover cropping with conservation tillage versus conventionally grown cotton with either conventional or conservation tillage on avian and arthropod species composition and field use in east-central Georgia. Stripcover fields had higher bird densities and biomass and higher relative abundance of arthropods than both conservation tillage and conventional fields. During migration and breeding periods, total bird densities on stripcover fields were 2–6 times and 7–20 times greater than on conservation and conventional fields, respectively. Abundance and biomass for epigeal arthropods were also greatest on stripcover fields during much of the breeding season. Although the clover treatment attracted the highest avian and arthropod densities, conservation fields still provided more wildlife and agronomic benefits than conventional management. Our findings suggest that both conservation tillage and stripcropping systems will improve conditions for birds in cotton, with stripcropped fields providing superior habitat. The reduction of inputs possible with the clover system could allow farmers to lower costs associated with conventional cotton production by $282–317/ha. This reduction of input, coupled with similar or possibly increased yield over conventional systems makes stripcover cropping not only a good choice for reducing negative impacts on wildlife and surrounding ecosystems, but also an economically desirable one.     

Reduced Soil Macropores and Forest Cover Reduce Warm‐Season Baseflow below Ecological Thresholds in the Upper Delaware River Basin

We examined the impacts of changes in land cover and soil conditions on the flow regime of the upper Delaware River Basin using the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources. We simulated flows for two periods, c. 1600 and 1940, at three sites using the same temperature and precipitation conditions: the East Branch, West Branch, and mainstem Delaware River at Callicoon, New York. The 1600 period represented pristine forest and soils. The 1940 period included reduced forest cover, increased agriculture, and degraded soils with reduced soil macropore fractions. A model‐sensitivity test examined the impact of soil macropore and land cover change separately. We assessed changes in flow regimes between the 1600 and 1940 periods using a variety of flow statistics, including established ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA) thresholds. Reduced forest soil macropore fraction significantly reduced summer and fall baseflows. The 1940 period had significantly lower Q50 flows (50% exceedance) than the 1600 period, as well as summer and fall Q90 and Q75–Q90 flows below the ELOHA thresholds. The one‐ to seven‐day minimum flows were also lower for the 1940 period, by 17% on the mainstem. 1940 flows were 6% more likely than the 1600 period to fall below the low‐flow threshold for federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon) habitat. In contrast, the 1940 period had higher flows than the 1600 period from late fall to early winter.     

SWAT‐LUT: A Desktop Graphical User Interface for Updating Land Use in SWAT

Long‐term simulations of agricultural watersheds have often been done assuming constant land use over time, but this is not a realistic assumption for many agricultural regions. This paper presents the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT)‐Landuse Update Tool (LUT), a standalone, user‐friendly desktop‐based tool for updating land use in the SWAT model that allows users to process multi‐year land use data. SWAT‐LUT is compatible with several SWAT model interfaces, provides users with several options to easily prepare and incorporate land use changes (LUCs) over a simulation period, and allows users to incorporate past or emerging land use categories. Incorporation of LUCs is expected to provide realistic model parameterization and scenario simulations. SWAT‐LUT is a public domain interface written in Python programming language. Two applications at the Fort Cobb Reservoir Experimental Watershed located in Oklahoma and pertinent results are provided to demonstrate its use. Incorporating LUCs related to implementation of recommended conservation practices over the years reduced discharge, evapotranspiration, sediment, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus loads by 59%, 9%, 68%, 53%, and 88%, respectively. The user’s manual is included in this article as Supporting Information. The SWAT‐LUT executable file and an example SWAT project with three land use rasters and the user’s manual are available at the United States Department of Agriculture‐Agricultural Research Service Grazinglands Research Laboratory website under Software. Editor’s note : This paper is part of the featured series on Optimizing Ogallala Aquifer Water Use to Sustain Food Systems. See the February 2019 issue for the introduction and background to the series.     

不同土地利用/覆盖情景下东北沟流域植被生态需水量及其对产流影响

针对京津水源区上游生态环境建设需水与向下游多输水的矛盾现实,基于气象、土壤、土地利用/覆盖(1990年和2009年)数据,应用Penman-Monteith公式估算潜在蒸散量,再用土壤和植被信息对其进行修正,计算了水源区东北沟流域1990年、2009年及其他5种不同土地利用/覆盖情景下的最小生态需水量和适宜生态需水量。结果表明:2005-2009年4-10月潜在蒸散量是715.04 mm;2009年流域植被适宜生态需水量是399.42 mm,最小生态需水量是339.68 mm,比1990年的适宜和最小量分别多122.5 mm、144.5 mm;平水年的降雨均可满足各种情景生态需水要求,其中需水量较大的是情景Ⅲ(草地转化为林地),其适宜需水量达784.69×10⁴ m³,情景Ⅱ(林地转化为草地)的需水量最小,适宜需水量是687.27×10⁴ m³,该情景较适合向下游输水为目的的生态建设,但该情景实施的前提是建立下游向上游的生态补偿机制。     

土地利用/土地覆被变化研究范式的转变

土地利用/土地覆被变化(LUCC)研究的形成和发展经历了从前科学(无范式)到科学(以范式为标志)的历史过程.认识LUCC研究范式及其转变的内涵和实质对其理论和应用的发展与完善具有极为重要的意义,并有助于提高解释和预测能力.本文以库恩的“范式”和“范式转变”为基本脉络,剖析了LUCC研究中的实证主义范式、科学人文主义范式、结构功能主义范式以及复杂性范式,并指出范式及其转变主要在本体论、认识论和方法论三个层面表现出来.实证主义范式强调决定论以及主客体分离,认为应把经验与逻辑分析作为客观地认识现实的基础,它贯穿1UCC不同发展阶段,在初期发挥了重要作用,至今仍主导着LUCC研究；科学人文主义在科学主义或实证主义的基础上强调了人的主体性,修正了它们的片面性；结构功能主义为我们提供了一种可资参考的系统分析方法,在宏观层面的许多重要理论见解和研究方法,值得LUCC研究者关注和借鉴；复杂性范式强调土地系统的非线性、自组织、连通性等特征,为LUCC研究提供了一种新的科学世界观、认识论和方法论,利用复杂性理论研究具有非线性特征的复杂土地系统,体现了当前LUCC研究的范式转变.